The Pearl
by Almaron
Summary: Set in Ddraigtanto's "Dragons Unite" fanverse, during the story "Of Snakes And Savages". During her visit to Indomalaya, Ddraigtanto sees another side to the imposing and bad-tempered Emperor Long'Li.


As Long'Li spoke, Ddraig found her eyes drifting to a strange shape on the wall behind him. Embedded into the wall was what appeared to be a tiny shrine, with a large pearl secured inside it.  
Despite her attempts to avoid staring, Long'Li noticed, and turned around to see what she was looking at.  
"Ah, I see you have found my..." he paused. "One of my treasures."  
"It's very beautiful." Ddraig said.  
Long'Li sighed. "You wouldn't know what this was, would you?" he said. Ddraig shook her head, and Long'Li promptly walked over to the wall shrine and opened it, taking the pearl out and holding it carefully in one pearl. He stared at it for a moment, before looking up at her again. "Your kind uses magic differently to mine; while you are gifted with the ability to summon your magic from within, We must draw our magic from an outside source."  
Ddraig moved closer; staring at the strange pearl. "How does it work?"  
"It is complicated. There is a ritual involved, where a precious item will be enchanted in such a way that it can absorb magical energy and release it when the holder wills it." Long'Li said. "Since time immemorial, my kind has used pearls." He paused. "This one belonged to my wife."  
Ddraig moved her head up; away from the pearl, afraid that she would somehow damage the precious object. Despite this, Long'Li held it before her. "Touch it." he said, simply.  
Ddraig frowned. "I...you're sure?"  
Long'Li bowed his head in a simple nod. "I think you deserve to see the wonders of my kind firsthand." he said. "Although it may not look it, every pearl is different. Through years of use, a dragon leaves an imprint of themselves on their pearls. It allows us to..." he paused. "...remember them, when they are no longer with us."  
Tentatively, Ddraig raised a foreclaw and reached out to touch the pearl's surface. The instant she did, there was a bright flash of light, and Ddraig jerked her foreleg back and shielded her eyes with her wings. "Ancestors!" she cried out.  
Once the light died down, Ddraig found herself outside, standing on a terrace. Far below her was a village by a river, surrounded on all sides by countless hills and mountains. Ddraig wasn't sure exactly where she was; it didn't look anything like what she'd seen of Indomalaya.  
A voice sounded to one side, and Ddraig turned to her left to see a pair of Eastern Dragons sitting together on the terrace.  
"Oh! I'm sorry; I didn't mean to barge in..." Ddraig began, only to recognise the male dragon as the Emperor. "Long'Li?" she said. "How...what is this?"  
Long'Li didn't respond, and instead turned to face the dragoness he was sitting with, nuzzling her forehead.  
Curious, Ddraig moved closer to the pair. Long'Li was wearing simple clothing, compared to the regal robes she normally saw him wearing, and his face was far less creased than normal. And he was smiling! It was a strange sight. Ddraig didn't think she'd seen him smile like this once during her time in Indomalaya. _A memory..._Ddraig suddenly realised, _I'm in a memory!_  
The dragoness beside Long'Li giggled, and curled her tail around his.  
_This must be Long'Lian_, Ddraig thought to herself, as the two dragons began speaking in Chinese. She couldn't understand what the two dragons were saying to one another, but it was unmistakably affectionate, and Ddraig suddenly felt that she was intruding on a personal memory of this long-dead dragoness.  
Long'Li suddenly lowered his head to his mate's side, and as Ddraig moved closer to see what he was looking at, she realised that the dragoness was pregnant.  
The dragoness - Lian - smiled, and nuzzled at Long'Li, who sighed and lifted his head back up to her level. Ddraig found herself strangely affected by the sight, as if the memories and emotions of Long'Li's late wife were being passed on to her, and she began to realise that she felt incredibly lonely, and wishing that Alexander was by her side.  
Without warning, the scenery and the two dragons abruptly began to fade away. Ddraig blinked as the world began to disappear, and to her surprise, she found herself back in Long'Li's chambers, with him still standing in front of her with the pearl.  
"What exactly did you see?" Long'Li said nonchalantly, as if nothing had happened.  
"I..." Ddraig struggled to describe what she had seen. "There was a house in the mountains, with a view overlooking-"  
"-overlooking a tiny settlement beside a river." Long'Li said, finishing her sentence for her. "Yangshuo." he added, wistfully.  
"Yangshuo?" Ddraig said in confusion; the name was unfamiliar. "Where is that?"  
"It is in the south of China," Long'Li began, "Although I have not seen it in over a hundred years, now."  
"It was your home?" Ddraig asked.  
"Once..." Long'Li sighed. "Before I came to Indomalaya, I lived simply in South China with the love of my life. I had no ambitions; I was a junior child of the prestigious Long family, that was enough for me. What more could a dragon desire?"  
Long'Li looked down at his wife's pearl, and continued. "And then the Qing fell, and with them, my family. Once revered by all, our kind was steadily stripped of power and privilege, until I had no choice to flee, leaving my home and ancestors at their mercy. I would have taken Long'Lian with me if I had had more time, but I...I could not move her and our hatchlings."  
His words reminded Ddraig of something she had heard in Avalar, shortly before leaving. As a part of the preparation for her travel, her court archivist had spent two very slow hours filling her in on the customs and culture of Eastern Dragons, to prevent her or her retinue accidentally creating a scandal by offending one of their hosts.  
"The Emperor is an elderly dragon, and will most likely be a practitioner of Draconic Shenism or 'Long Shenjiao'." Marcus had said. "Ancestral worship is very important; moreso than it is in Sekeolath, and Long'Li will most likely have a shrine to his family that will require tending daily, otherwise their spirits will not be at rest."  
Ddraig looked back at Long'Li, who was still holding his dead wife's pearl as if it was a precious child. Clarity dawned. Long'Li had lost his wife in more than one way; as far as he was concerned, her spirit was trapped at Yangshuo, restless and sorrowful, and he was miles away, unable to do anything to help her.  
Ddraig couldn't help but feel very sympathetic towards her elderly host. "Your Imperial Highness-"  
"One day." he suddenly said, a dark tone to his voice. "One day, I will return to Yangshuo, and make it mine again." He looked up at her. "It doesn't matter what it takes; if I have to put weapons in the hands of every creature in Indomalaya, I shall!"  
A silence fell across the room, broken only by the sound of Long'Li's heavy breathing. After a while, he looked back down at the pearl held in his foreclaw. Carefully, he lowered his head down to it and nuzzled it tenderly, before turning and placing it safely back in its shrine on the wall.  
While he stood with his back to her, Ddraig decided now was the time to say something, if anything at all. "Your Imperial Highness, I..." she paused, as Long'Li moved his head back to face her. "The pearl showed me more than your home. I could tell that Lian loved you very much."  
Long'Li momentarily frowned, but bowed his head nonetheless. "Thank you." he said.


End file.
